History Revisited, Rewritten

History Revisited, Rewritten
Yogesh Snehi

The Tribune, Sunday, October 19, 2003
History in the New NCERT Textbooks: A Report and Index of Errors
by Irfan Habib, Suvira Jaiswal and Aditya Mukherjee.
(Indian History Congress, 2003, Kolkata. Pages vi + 130. Rs 50.)

THE Indian History Congress, Kolkata, has recently published History in the New NCERT Textbooks: A Report and Index of Errors. This report is an in-depth study of four NCERT books: Ancient India—Class XI and India and the World—Class VI (II) by Makkhan Lal, Medieval India—Class XI by Meenakshi Jain and Contemporary India—Class IX (I) by Hari Om. These texts have been meticulously examined for historical errors by India’s leading historians Irfan Habib, Suvira Jaiswal and Aditya Mukherjee.

The report shows that these textbooks are not just historically misleading but also infected by poor language, spelling and grammatical errors, infelicitous expressions and obscurities. Above all, they are part of an "ugly project of saffronising the education system" and reflect chauvinism and communal bias of the Sangh Parivar.

Historians are confronted with the challenge of balancing objectivity and truth in history on one hand and the process of nation building on the other. History writing is inclined to focus on the ‘truth’. The report tells us that NCERT texts are marred by extraordinary glorification of the ‘Hindu past’ without any objective basis. The Hindu religion is held superior and the Upanishads are proclaimed the "most profound works of philosophy in any religion". Also, all substantial scientific discoveries are attributed to the Vedic civilisation. Aryans are projected to be indigenous, which is factually incorrect since this argument is not supported by linguistic data. Interestingly, the Indus Civilisation has been clubbed with Vedic civilisation and renamed ‘Indus-Saraswati Civilisation.’

The report says the texts by Makkhan Lal ignore rigidity of the caste system, oppression of lower castes and are neutral towards sati and jauhar (or even adopt an admiring stance). Rakshasa marriages are described as legitimate. Serious attempt has been made to communalise history in these texts.

The NCERT books project that Muslims brought little new, except oppression and temple-destruction. Dark spots in history are attributed to Muslims and the rise of a composite culture is ignored. ‘Muslim separatism’ is highlighted while Hindu Mahasabha leaders are portrayed as patriots.

This report is the result of serious research on the ambiguities in the NCERT textbooks and highlights the importance of understanding the correct perspective in history. It has also necessitated rethinking on the issue of historiography. NCERT has attempted to construct a history inspired by myth. What was earlier considered part of historical criticism is now built into history itself. Ancient India—Class VI by Makkhan Lal is abound with pitiful historical and spelling errors. The serial errors reveal how, by selectively distorting the facts and changing the meanings, Lal has tried to saffronise history. He uses the term ‘Vedic culture’ for ‘Vedic civilisation’ and says that ‘Vedic people know astronomy’. At another point he says ‘Buddha was very critical of this jati system (and not the varna system) and preached simple living’. The selective replacement of ‘caste’ by ‘jati’ is an attempt to not just idealise the varna system but also legitimise the atrocities committed on shudras and outcastes for thousands of years.

The report also highlights an attempt to romanticise ancient Indian history. "The army chief Pushyamitra Sunga killed him (the last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha) in 187 BC. This is the only incident in the history of India till 12th century AD when a king was killed and replaced." This is meant to convey that Indian kings were not brutes. But ancient history is studded with incidents of usurpation of power through bloodshed. In another reference, Lal says, "From the days of Ramayana Indians had close links with Sri Lanka". Here a mythical attribution is projected as historical evidence. Makkhan Lal’s Ancient India for Class XI eulogises that "the knowledge of history was given a very high place in ancient India. It was accorded sanctity equal to a Veda". The report, however, shows that Rajatarangini of Kalhana is the solitary example of a historical work in ancient India. To add to it, Lal places Mahabharata ‘somewhere around 6377 BC’. This amounts to assigning Mahabharata a pre-Harappan antiquity. Even B.B. Lal won’t assign such an early date to this event. Also, H.C. Raychaudhuri assigns it to the 9th century BC.

There are numerous conscious historical, geographical and linguistic fabrications. Meenakshi Jain’s Medieval India—Class IX has a basic purpose of highlighting the ‘barbarity of the Muslims’. The report explains how Jain has tried to show that Hindus have been wronged and their histories have been distorted in the hands of ‘secular fundamentalists’. She tends to reaffirm the Medieval Age as the ‘dark age’ and that Muslims brought extreme radicalism, exploitation and intolerance. She goes to the extent of suggesting "there is nothing to show that Islam mitigated social discrimination against low-caste Hindu converts. Certainly they did not regard the converts as social equals".

Although there is no agreement on the authorship of Chandi di Var and Chandi Charittar Ukat Bilas, Jain confirms through these texts that ‘Guru (Gobind Singh) was devotee of goddess Chandi’.

In Hari Om’s Contemporary India for Class IX Independence is not attributed to the seamless struggle of the freedom fighters but to US and USSR pressure on Britain, due to which it decided to withdraw. The Indian National Congress is not supposed to be the harbinger of freedom, but a mere ‘safety valve’ in the hands of the British. Every step has been taken to derecognise the role of Muslims in nation building. Instead, they are regarded as ‘wedded to Pan-Islamism’. While so much is said about communalism among Muslims, the author fails to even mention the remarks of the RSS or the Hindu Mahasabha.

The NCERT has proved right the fears of progressive historians. The report by the IHC perhaps gives just an indication of what the Sangh Parivar has in store for Indians.